


Festivities

by mckvch (RaiseYourVoice)



Series: How to woo your local barista [28]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Human, Barista Raphael, Celebrations, Demisexual Raphael Santiago, Established Relationship, F/M, Family, Family Dinners, Hanukkah, Homoromantic Raphael Santiago, Idiots in Love, Jewish Character, Luke and Jocelyn are married, M/M, Not Beta Read, Pansexual Simon Lewis, Religious Content, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-09
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-07 11:11:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8798629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaiseYourVoice/pseuds/mckvch
Summary: For tonight, they had simply started sending each other text messages and photos to still kind of share their celebrations, even if they couldn't be physically together right now. Raphael had sent him a video of his little brothers butchering a Spanish version of Silent Night - it took Simon almost half of the song to realise why the wonky singing (that was putting it very nicely, though) had sounded kind of familiar. Admittedly, Luke was the one who asked why these kids seemed to be on a mission to kill one of the most popular Christmas songs that Simon had realised what it was supposed to be. He hoped the boys would get a little better at singing when they got older, otherwise, he would be really worried about the health of everyone's hearing.





	1. Chapter 1

**From Rapha** [18:24] _I'm pretty sure Luke sang the wrong lyrics at least twice during the second song and three times during the last._

Simon snorted softly when he read the message and he glanced up at Luke through the open kitchen door, where Clary's stepdad was currently helping Elaine with the last preparations for dinner. He was still a little bit sad that Raphael couldn't be here but his lover had already promised to be around for most other evenings because Hanukkah had only started but the first day fell on the 24th this year and Raphael spent the evening with his own family to head to the midnight mass later and open presents in the morning with his younger siblings.

Their holidays really had bad timing this year but they would still spend part of it together because Guadalupe had invited him over for lunch the next day and later they would head to Simon's family home to celebrate the second day - well, evening - of Hanukkah. Raphael wouldn't be able to join on the 26th as well because he would be visiting other parts of his family, probably until the very late evening, but he had promised to be around for the other days as long as Simon's family was okay with him intruding.

Simon had already asked his mother but she was clearly more than happy about Raphael's willingness to join them and learn about their traditions. It was a holiday to spend with loved ones and Simon's family really didn't care if someone shared their beliefs because Clary and her mum had been joining them for years and Luke as well. Simon couldn't suppress a grin when he thought back to the day a few years back when he had asked Luke if he wanted to join them as well and got the brightest, happiest smile in return. Luke had admitted that he had already wanted to join the year before but hadn't wanted to intrude so he never asked about it. But he was absolutely in love with the dishes Elaine cooked for the Hanukkah dinners - the reason why it had been impossible to get Luke out of the kitchen during the preparation ever since he started to join them - and he also loved the songs, even though he was a disaster at memorising the lyrics. But Luke was nothing if not determined to sing along anyway.

Most of the time Luke was like a father to Simon, especially since his own one died, but during these evenings it felt more like he suddenly had an older brother who acted like a giddy five-year-old and it was simply hilarious. It had definitely helped a lot with the loss of his dad, even though it would probably always be bittersweet to celebrate their holidays without him but the Frays - well, Garroways, now - had brightened the holiday up quite a lot. And Simon was looking forward to Raphael joining their chaotic little group as well.

For tonight, they had simply started sending each other text messages and photos to still kind of share their celebrations, even if they couldn't be physically together right now. Raphael had sent him a video of his little brothers butchering a Spanish version of Silent Night - it took Simon almost half of the song to realise why the wonky singing (that was putting it very nicely, though) had sounded kind of familiar. Admittedly, Luke was the one who asked why these kids seemed to be on a mission to kill one of the most popular Christmas songs that Simon had realised what it was supposed to be. He hoped the boys would get a little better at singing when they got older, otherwise, he would be really worried about the health of everyone's hearing.

But that had prompted Simon to record a video of them singing Hanukkah songs as well and though it had sounded a lot better musically, Luke had kind of messed up the lyrics once again after insisting that he didn't need the written lyrics to look at anymore, so it had ended in laughter after the fourth song because Rebecca and Clary hadn't been able to suppress their laughter any longer. The evening had been kind of a beautiful mess and Simon loved every second of it, especially because he was able to share all of this with his boyfriend.

 **To Rapha** [18:29] _He tends to do that and believe me, it's kind of a miracle we managed four songs. Getting through three is difficult enough when he's around with his determination to sing everyone under the table. At least he sounds better than your brothers, though :P_

 **From Rapha** [18:32] _At least they have the excuse of still being kids and not knowing what they're doing. But I have to admit I'd rather listen to Luke's wonky lyrics than the screeching I had to endure here._

Simon laughed when he read this reply and he felt a presence next to him even before Rebecca's shoulder pressed into him - of course, she tried to peek at his phone and read what was so funny. Simon rolled his eyes fondly but tilted the phone to show Rebecca because there was nothing going on that she shouldn't know about.

"I should tell Luke that you boys are making fun of him," she said and gently shoved her elbow into Simon's side but he only winced slightly and grinned innocently at his sister.

"As if he would mind. He makes fun of everyone all the time so it's only fair to return the favour. And he is very well aware of his singing mishaps. Sometimes I think he does it on purpose anyway," Simon replied with a grin that widened even more when he saw Jocelyn and Clary nod in agreement.

"He definitely did that last year!" Clary added and her mother laughed.

"And last week we were on the Christmas market and he tried to confuse a group of carolers by stopping right next to them and singing the wrong lyrics," Jocelyn added and she tried to sound indignant but there was obvious fond amusement dancing in her eyes. Simon could definitely imagine Luke trying to troll some poor kids and sometimes he really had a hard time imagining that Luke was actually a successful detective for the NYPD but as soon as the badge was gone he was all dad jokes and loving husband.

 **From Rapha** [18:46] _I know it's only been six hours since we saw each other but I actually miss you already. I can't wait for tomorrow and spend time with you and our families <3_

The food was ready and brought into the room by Elaine and Luke but Simon was distracted from the delicious smell by Raphael's adorable message and he already felt his cheeks hurt from smiling so much. His boyfriend was really too adorable to be true.

 **To Rapha** [18:48] _I miss you too and I feel the same about tomorrow. We will probably explode from too much food after the holidays at this rate._

 **From Rapha** [18:53] _Let's hope it doesn't happen. Oh, by the way, Magnus might join us for lunch tomorrow. Mamá invited him and told him to bring Alec along but I don't know if he will make it or if his loverboy will tag along._

 **To Rapha** [18:57] _Okay, I will prepare myself mentally for being called ridiculous names :P But seriously, that would be cool and hopefully better than the weird accidental double-date thing that happened a while back._

 **From Rapha** [18:59] _Please don't remind me of that..._

 **To Rapha** [19:04] _Sorry :P The food is on the table and mum is glaring at me, I better stop texting for now. Love you~_

Simon couldn't help but take a photo of the table with all of the food and sent it to his boyfriend before he finally put his phone down that chirped with a new message from Raphael and he had to hold himself back from looking at it immediately.

"Ah, young love," Luke sighed wistfully and winked at Simon who felt his cheeks heat up a little but the rest of the table started laughing because Jocelyn glared at her husband.

"Does that mean our love is old?" She asked and there was this "you better think carefully about your next words" tone in her voice that had Luke look like a deer in the headlights for a split second before he leant in to whisper something into Jocelyn's ear. Simon snorted softly when she gently pushed Luke's shoulder in return, laughing and pressing a kiss to his lips but they didn't elaborate what his reply was.

The dinner was filled with the clatter of cutlery against the dishes and cheerful conversations and Simon only got scolded twice for being unable to keep away from his phone. Elaine shook her head with a smile when Simon showed them a photo of a grinning Raphael with his family, all of them beaming at the camera and the text _Happy Hanukkah_ scrawled at the bottom of it and Luke immediately snatched Simon's phone so they could return the favour with a photo of their own and _Merry Christmas_. Clary even drew some festive swirls on the picture - Simon had no idea how she managed to make that look good because he only ever produced squiggly lines whenever he tried to make artsy edits on his phone but his best friend was an artist so that probably helped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This somehow turned into a "Luke the ridiculous dad" kind of chapter even though it was supposed to be about Hanukkah but seeing as it is a family holiday it might be okay? Because my daily Saphael stories have more Christmasy topics I thought I could at least have a "proper" Hanukkah chapter here but I don't know if this one counts as a success.  
> So, if you have suggestions for what to write about and how to make a better Hannukah chapter, please tell me and I will try to write another one about another evening with Raphael present :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought it might be more logical to add this part as a second chapter - it's the same theme and it basically belongs together anyway.
> 
> Happy holidays to all of you ♥

"This is called a _menorah_ , right?" Raphael questioned while his boyfriend placed a new candle in the candelabrum, on the left side of an already partly burnt down one. After adjusting the small candle so it wasn't crooked, Simon closed the drawer of the dressed again and looked at Raphael with amusement dancing in his eyes.

"Well, that's only kind of correct. It's a menorah, yes, but a certain kind. You see, this one has nine branches but a regular menorah has only seven. That's why this one is either called _Hanukkah menorah_ or _Hanukkiah_ ," he explained and Raphael hummed in understanding, nodding his head while his eyes followed the line of the curved branches of the _~~menorah~~ hanukkiah_! The candle in the middle was situated a little higher, on top of the Star of David.

"You can ask whatever you want to know - I won't judge or get offended, promise," Simon chuckled when he noticed a small frown forming on his lover's forehead. He reached out for Raphael's hand, intertwined their fingers and squeezed gently. Raphael blinked and looked like he was caught doing something illegal before he straightened up from his slightly bent position and rubbed his thumb across Simon's fingers.

"Even stupid questions?"

"Even stupid questions," Simon confirmed with a chuckle and leant in to brush a kiss to his boyfriend's cheek that was still a little cold from the icy temperatures outside, even though they had already been in Simon's family house for almost half an hour by now.

"Okay, so...why didn't you put in all of the candles? It's obvious you probably light one more candle per day but is it mandatory to add one candle per day?"

"No, not really. It's the same as every tradition, everyone does it differently or perceives a different approach as the _correct way_. We usually add one more per day and we also add them from right to left but light them the other way around. Not everybody does it that way, though."

"Ah, okay. And what's up with the one in the middle? I thought it's one more candle per day but Hanukkah started yesterday and there are three candles now." Admittedly, Raphael did have a suspicion and he was fairly sure he had heard about the meaning behind this before but he couldn't recall it right now and if he had already started asking dumb questions, why not keep going.

"That one basically doesn't count. It's called _shamash_ \- it's the candle that's lit first and it's used to light all the other candles," Simon explained with an amused little smile and tugged Raphael closer with their still intertwined hands while the other nodded with a thoughtful expression.

"The _shamash_ is the elevated candle and used to light the other candles and the whole candelabrum is called... _hanukkiah_ because it has nine branches instead of seven?" Raphael finally repeated after a moment of silence and Simon blinked before his lips stretched into a beaming smile because he just loved that Raphael clearly wanted to memorise what he just learned while other people would probably only ask out of politeness and not out of honest interest.

"Yes, that's correct. And the hanukkiah is only used for Hanukkah but I guess that's obvious from the name," he added with a little shrug and glanced at the door to the kitchen, only now noticing his mother and Luke standing there, watching them with bemused expressions.

"Aren't they adorable?" Elaine asked with a sigh and winked at the boys, causing Simon to blush and Raphael barely managed to keep himself from snorting in amusement.

"They sure are," Luke agreed and walked over to them to inspect the hanukkiah before patting Simon's shoulder in a complementary manner.

"Well done."

"Did you just praise me for putting up a candle, seriously?" Simon stared at his kind of father-figure and shook his head incredulously because Luke simply ignored his question and walked back into the kitchen, humming "Last Christmas", clearly just to get on everyone's nerves by getting the song stuck in their heads in the process.

"He's horrible," Simon mumbled without any heat and the fact that the corners of his lips curled upwards probably betrayed him as well.

"I think I like him," Raphael exclaimed after thinking about it for a few seconds and then jumped a little when a hand came to rest on his shoulder that clearly wasn't Simon's because they were still holding hands and it was impossible for it to be the other one.

"Wise choice."

Simon burst out laughing at his lover's slightly wide-eyed gaze directed at Jocelyn who simply grinned mischievously and ruffled Simon's hair before she got back to setting the table. Clary and Rebecca were currently upstairs in Rebecca's room but Simon wasn't even sure why because he was so focused on having his boyfriend around and showing him the different photos in the living room.

"That's a beautiful photo," Raphael murmured and Simon didn't have to follow his line of sight to know the other was talking about the family photo on the wall above the hanukkiah. Simon had still been in elementary school when this photo was taken. It was clearly during the Hanukkah celebrations because a glimpse of the hanukkiah could be seen in the background and Simon's father was sitting in the foreground, both kids somehow cradled in his lap and the tabletop was partly littered with different kinds of small candies and a spinning top with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet drawn on each of the four sides in different colours.

"It is," Simon agreed softly and despite the slightly heavy feeling creeping up in his chest, his lips curled into a small smile when he felt the gentle press of Raphael's fingers wrapped around his, soothing the hint of pain easily.

* * *

Everyone gathered in the dining area of the living room before the food was ready to light the hanukkiah while singing a song together - Raphael only listened because he didn't know it and could experience Luke butchering the lyrics first hand. Elaine even asked Raphael to say a prayer afterwards and he simply chose to thank Him for being able to spend time with all these wonderful people, for having the best family he could ever wish for and, of course, for the most loving boyfriend. Raphael was pretty sure he heard someone take a photo when Simon pressed a soft kiss to his lips for his sweet words but he really didn't care.

After this part of the evening, Elaine and Luke went to fetch the food from the kitchen and the smell was already mouth-watering. They had patatones and different kinds of latkes with either sour cream or applesauce, there was also a brisket for everyone who wanted some meat. Rebecca and Clary had helped prepare the rugelach and jelly filled doughnuts for dessert earlier when Simon had been for lunch to Raphael's family. Jocelyn had brought cookies the day before and there had been so many, that they might last for a few days and they were way too pretty to eat anyway because not only were they star-shaped but Jocelyn had taken the time to decorate them with frosting, some even had a hanukkiah drawn on them while other's were simply dotted or adorned with other patterns - mostly in blue, white and gold.

The dinner was filled with cheerful chatter and jokes (most of them ridiculous dad jokes from Luke, as usual) and Simon was unable to stop smiling. There was nothing that made him happier than having all the people he loved gathered around him. When the were mostly finished with their food, he felt the familiar weight and warmth of Raphael's hand on his thigh, fingertips pressing into the denim of his jeans and almost massaging the part of his thigh closest to his knee.

"You look happy," his lover pointed out, a murmur close to Simon's ear after leaning in, and the softness in his voice caused Simon's heart to skip a beat.

"Well, I _am_ happy," he replied, his lips curling into an amused smile when he tilted his head to playfully nudge Raphael's nose with the tip of his own. His hand came to rest on top his lover's to squeeze his finger and intertwine them.

"Me too. I'm so glad we can spend the holidays together," Raphael said softly and seeing Simon smile like this made him even happier. He had honestly expected the holidays to turn out a little difficult with their different religious traditions but both of their families were very open and didn't views to holidays as strictly religious but more of an opportunity to gather their loved ones and spend time together. It was interesting to learn about each other's traditions, though there was probably not too much that Simon didn't know because Christmas was basically shoved into everyone's faces at this time of the year and it was impossible not to know the basics.

"How about we sing a few more songs and play games then?" Rebecca suggested after finishing another one of the delicious cookies and everyone agreed. This time, Simon went to fetch his father's old guitar - his own was in his apartment - and they looked up the lyrics online for Raphael to try and sing along. Simon was really looking forward to teaching his lover how to play dreidel and they already had hard candies and nuts ready to use for the game.

Simon still had to show his boyfriend his old bedroom but because they had decided to just stay the night, there would be still time later when everyone left. He couldn't wait to curl up with his lover in his old bed, cocooned in the familiar warmth of the other body after a day filled with socialising, lots of food and with the melodies of the songs stuck in their heads.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I forgot something or did anything wrong, feel free to point it out and correct me :)


End file.
